Atlanta Falcons get great news about their injured star linebacker
The Atlanta Falcons have suffered a couple of key injuries to the linebacker position early this season. Nate Landman was injured in Week 1 and placed on injured reserve. The team also missed the services of Troy Andersen in Week 5 after he had the best performance of his young career.
The good news is that Andersen's injury isn't serious and they will be getting 2023's breakout defender, Nate Landman, back from injured reserve soon.
The team announced that the physical linebacker is designated to return after his four weeks on injured reserve. He will now have three weeks to either be activated to the 53-man roster or be placed on season-ending injured reserve—he will undoubtedly be activated soon.
Falcons quickly getting healthy at the linebacker position
With the trio of Kaden Elliss, Troy Andersen, and Nate Landman, the Atlanta Falcons had one of the best linebacker rooms in the NFL. However, that flipped upside down after seeing Andersen and Landman get injured.
The Falcons had to rely on rookie JD Bertrand in their Week 5 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The former Notre Dame defender had his fair share of struggles against a hot offense.
With Andersen getting healthy and the designation for the return of Landman, the Falcons suddenly don't have to worry about the position anymore.
This is huge because the defense has struggled to stop the run. It has been a combination of the defensive line's inability to get push and the linebackers failing to make plays in the hole.
They have struggled stopping running backs in that three to five-yard range, allowing them to pick up eight-plus yards at a time.
Hopefully, getting the middle of the defense back healthy will change things. Landman is a key piece to get back since he is excellent at putting his nose in the hole to stop the run like an old-school linebacker.